ICAS school competitions

School competitions did not gain real popularity until the onset on mass communication channels such as radio, TV and now the internet. One of the oldest continuous academic quiz competitions on record started as radio quiz program for high school students in the US in 1948. The questions were designed to test general knowledge students had received in the classroom. The increasing level of academic challenge and fun generated by heated, inter-school rivalry has seen the Delco Hi-Q quiz program expand to become a national event that continues to this day, more than 75 years later.

Today, school academic competitions have become significantly more refined – and data driven – extending students beyond the simple day-to-day application of curriculum, rewarding those who demonstrate the ability to analyse and solve complex problems using creativity, imagination and the application of classroom knowledge within new contexts.

The ICAS academic competition began in 1981 and rapidly grew to become Australia’s most popular school competition. ICAS is now offered internationally, with over 10 million students from 16,000 schools across 41 participating countries having sat one or more of the six competitive literacy and STEM papers.

Great school competitions spend considerable time and resources creating questions that test more than just ‘rote learning’. Often, whole teams of psychometricians, education measurement experts and experienced teachers are involved in writing the questions which explore student passions, get them thinking outside the box and stretch them beyond anything they might experience at school.

Unlike standardised exams, school competitions can play an important role in extending learning options for high potential students. Competitions are designed to engage, inspire and entice students to push harder to maximise their academic abilities. Some competitions require students to work on their own or as part of a team; some involve answering rapid-fire questions in front of an audience, and others, like ICAS, have students sit a timed paper in an exam environment – giving them additional, real-life practice for important future exams. Academic competitions are a fun way to teach students how to handle the pressures of real-life challenges and play a valuable role in inspiring a lifelong love for learning and unlocking potential outside the classroom.

Perhaps the biggest difference between academic competitions and exams is their purpose. Standardised exams are used to highlight student learning gaps, enabling educators to adjust teaching programs to fill these knowledge gaps (although school competitions can help with this too). School competitions however are run by educational institutions to motivate students, challenging them and providing opportunities to show their abilities outside of the traditional classroom environment.

The motivational power of school competitions can be seen in sports across the world, from quiet school fields to packed stadiums. But while children can tap into their naturally competitive natures by playing football, soccer, cricket and other sports, there are fewer opportunities for them to do the same thing for English, Mathematics, Science, or other classroom skills. That’s the beauty of academic competitions – they give children the opportunity to compete and be rewarded in the way sports are celebrated. This can fill them with energy and encourage them to strive towards their best.

There are so many reasons for schools to get involved in academic competition. To learn more, check out our blog.